Addressing the complex challenges of sustainability demands for good teamwork abilities for future technicians and engineers. In our three institutions we adopted project-based learning to facilitate the development of these skills – but is this enough? Since group project-based learning involves dealing with complex technical tasks and at the same time learning to work as a team, we wondered how students handle this double challenge. By analysing their perceptions, we attempt to identify what teaching practices could be helpful to shift their experience from groupwork to effective teamwork. In this paper, we present the differences and similarities in the way we implement group projects in our respective institutions. A common questionnaire was proposed to our students capturing their perception 1) of the value of group project learning, 2) of their ability to carry out such projects in the future, 3) of the group perception of a shared goal and 4) of the quality of interpersonal relations within their group. Finally, we present the results of this first iteration of data collection showing different group profiles. We discuss the teaching practices that may contribute to sustain students' motivation for group-work and their confidence in their ability to achieve complex team projects, first in their academic context and then when facing challenges in their future employment within a changing world.